The Women's American Basketball Association (WABA) is a name given to four professional women's basketball leagues in the United States. The first league played one season in 1984. The second league played an All-Star Tour in 1992 and then three full seasons from 1993-95. The third league played one season in 2002. The fourth league is in expansion and starts play in 2012.
The first Women's American Basketball Association (WABA) was founded by Bill Byrne, founder of the WBL in hopes of cashing in on the USA Olympic team's success in Los Angeles in 1984. While some talented players played in the league (including Nancy Lieberman, Molly Bolin, Pamela McGee and Paula McGee) most of the league's teams folded before the league championship, which was won by Dallas over Chicago.
The Women's Basketball Association (WBA) was the first Women's Professional basketball summer league. The league was called the WABA and WWBA for the first All-Star tour in 1992, before settling on WBA. The pioneer league was formed in 1992 and played three full seasons from 1993-95. The WBA played a 15-game schedule and games were broadcast on Liberty Sports of Dallas. The All-Star games were also televised on Fox Sports. Nancy Lieberman was the TV announcer for the 1995 All-Star game. The WBA played three full seasons with plans to play as a 12-team league in 1997, but disbanded before the 1997 season. When Fox Sports purchased Liberty Sports and the WBA, they disbanded the league shortly after and sold off the franchising rights. The league is considered to be the first American professional women's basketball league to be successful as a SUMMER league, like the WNBA. Guard Laurie Byrd played for the WABA, WBA, American Basketball League,and the WNBA.
The Women's American Basketball Association (WABA) formed in 2001 and played one season in 2002. The 2002 championship game was played June 2, 2002 and won by the York City Noise. Meggan Yedsena from the NWBL and Colorado Chill led the Schuykill (Pa.) Syrens in the league's inaugural season. Some of the teams made the transition to the WEBA and continue to play Semi Professional Basketball. Yedsena was the only player to play in both the 90's WABA (for Nebraska) and the 2002 WABA.
Read more about Women's American Basketball Association: WBA Champions 1993 - 1995, WABA Clubs 2002, WABA Clubs 2012, WBA Results 1993-95, Notable Players
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